What It Is

The art of paddling

So you have a surfboard and your ready to go. Your board should be rather large as the first article indicated, and float well.

If your board is too small, it will sink below the surface a bit, and create drag in the tail end, meaning it will take more effort when paddling.

What ever size your board is you should get a feel for it before jumping right in the surf.

Getting practice in a calm section of water, like a sheltered bay will help you get your position right on your board, so when you head out through the surf you don’t have to shift your weight around so much, because your comfortable with your position before hand.

When you feel your comfortable to head out in the smaller swells. Walk your surfboard out to about knee to waist height. Then lie on the surfboard so your weight is central, keep your chest just above the middle, then when your ready, and the board feels stable, level out your surfboard by leaning forward and start paddling.

The further back you lay on the board the more resistance you will encounter, you don’t won’t the nose to far up in the air, as the tail will drag in the water more.

As you reach choppier water, you can lean back a bit and lift up the nose some more, keep your chest up so you don’t get swamped, you don’t want the nose going under the little waves or swells, because it will slow you down.

When paddling, keep your hand cupped, and use deep strokes, this will push you faster through the water. The more strength you put in, and more resistance you feel, the quicker the board will move.

Your deep strokes may use more energy in the short term, but by getting out quicker, and dealing with less waves, you will end up using much less overall, and still have energy to catch a wave.

By now you should have a feel for your board, so your ready to head out through the breakers, check out the next lesson on Duckdiving and rolling your board.